While man busies himself in the depths of science, woman loses herself amidst the ethereal regions of fancy. She roves from steep to steep, plucking wild flowers from every side. Myrtles press forward with the green laurel to shade her head; violets spring beneath her feet, and unnumbered sweets steep her senses in fragrance. Alps rise on Alps, and yet the lovely pilgrim is not checked in her course. She crosses dreadful precipices; she ascends fearful heights; Love beckons her from one point, and Fame hails her from another beyond it. Forward she flies: the affections yoke the doves to her car, and after many a perilous flight, they lay her on a bed of amaranth within the arms of glory! Mrs. Cosway, the subject of these memoirs, is a striking example of this assertion.' P. 296.

But how great must be our indignation, how great must be his own, when a scholar no less eminent for his modesty than his talents, is dragged from the obscurity of his college, where he has lived contented with the humble duties of his offices as a tutor, Bampton lecturer, and examining master for degrees, occasionally indeed emerging into the world as a prose writer and Whitehall preacher,-when Mr. Kett, we say, is not only ironically termed a 'public character,' but even his verses, of which he must long since have repented, and rejoiced in their 'dropping dead from the press,' are quoted to his face! As his biographer classically observes

Pudet hæc opprobria dici,
Et non potuisse refelli.'

Again, so meritorious are this gentleman's exertions in favour of our religion, that it is painful to see his 'Elements of General Knowledge' obtruded upon the world in a style of laboured praise. An enemy hath done this.' Nor can the duchess of Devonshire be well pleased with that publicity here given to her poetical bijoux which she herself had denied to their merit. At all events, such a false print as the following should have been guarded against in her grace's poems:

Rise the bare rocks, coëcal with the sky.' P. 425.

We shall conclude our comments upon this abominable trash by a quotation of the heaviest stupidity:

These fortunate islands, notwithstanding the captious objections of peevish geographers, must certainly have been the Hespe rides of the ancients! The golden apples alluded to in history are still to be met with in Herefordshire, and occasionally in Coventgarden; while, to complete the resemblance, the male and female dragons who guard thein in both places will never consent to part with any of those valuable productions, unless Hercules himself should appear in the shape of a piece of money. The number and

value of our flocks too is another proof of identity, for we have possessed from the earliest periods a fleece which may justly vie with that of Colchis; in addition to which, one of the late Mr. Bakewell's rams might have actually carried both Phryxus and Helle on his back at the same time, while his woolly covering would have defrayed no small portion of the expence attendant on the Argonautic expedition!

'A third, and indeed the most convincing proof, arises from the lovely faces and enchanting figures of our fair countrywomen; and if these modern Pleiades have not, like their mothers of antiquity, "the immortal gods themselves for their suitors," every man pos sessed of common gallantry will allow that they at least deserve them!' P. 411.

Any absurdity, however dull, any specimen of the art of bookmaking, however gross, quoted after this, must lose by the comparison; we shall therefore conclude our strictures here. Let us however at parting whisper a word in the ears of the more independent authors of Public Characters.' We have already told them that genius, modesty, rank, and real worth, must be offended by their notice and are they not ashamed of indifferently extolling the motley fool, and hoary sinner? As for those who are paid to praise themselves, the temptation is irresistible. Assailed at once by vanity and gain, well may they fling away the camphor bag, and march through the world without blushing, even in such scurvy company as a very large part of the public characters.'

AS a kind of supplement to our general censure of the plan and execution of this work, we shall present our readers with a few particular instances of the omissions and mistakes of its authors. For the sake of brevity and perspicuity, we shall arrange them under the following short and distinct heads-of Misrepresentations (for we will not use a harsher name), and Ignorant Mutilations.

Misrepresentation the First:

In the life of admiral Warren, page the second, we have the following note:

It is well known that it was deemed prudent, on this occasion, to retreat into the Bristol Channel; and the author of this article has heard from an officer of distinction, that a British sailor on board the Royal George, unacquainted with the policy of the measure, but highly indignant at the supposed disgrace, threw a hammock over the head of his sovereign, observing at the same time, "That his majesty should never witness the flight of an English fleet!"''

May we not exclaim, with prince Henry, These lies are

gross and palpable as the father that begets them?' (that is, the devil, or the printer's devil, or-but we stop our conjectures: if their father is not ashamed of them, we have done with him). Mark how a plain tale shall set you down.' The British fleet did not retreat into the Bristol Channel. It made an orderly retreat, under an easy sail, up the English Channel, before an enemy of twice its force, till it arrived off Plymouth it then came to an anchor, and waited a whole night for the approach of the combined fleets; but the hearts of the French and Spaniards failed them. The device attributed to a British sailor is too absurd to be credited; for if, according to this writer, the English fleet was running away before the enemy, how, unless he supposes the ships to have sailed head hindmost, could the image of his majesty, which formed the head of the ship, be offended at the sight of what it could not see? The daughter indeed of the governor of Tilbury-fort had a kind of poetical second-sight; but it must be remembered that the grave matter-of-fact man her father, admonished her of its absurdity:

Daughter, those ships thou canst not see,
Because they're not in sight.'

Misrepresentation the second :

Sheridan's Critic.

The author of major Topham's life allows him ample time for making that progress which it must universally be allowed he did make at Eton school; but the quickness of the major's improvement is by no means done justice to, as he did not pass more than four years at that seminary of learned and religious education. In spite also of what is asserted (p. 209) concerning the major's total retirement from the gay world, the said major exhibited in London in 1804, the same grotesque figure with which he amused the metropolitans twenty years before. Indeed, as this fact must have been so generally known, we think the contrary assertion was intended as an ironical, and as such a most impertinent hint to the major, that it would be proper for him totally to retire from that stage, which his biographer, aware of the untruth, says he has already quitted, insinuating that, unless he does,

Rideat ac pulset lasciva decentiùs ætas.'

Misrepresentation the third :

The anecdote in the archbishop of York's life (page 409) respecting Mr. Pitt's revocation of his promise to Dr. Clarke, is not true.

Misrepresentation the fourth :

In lord Gardner's life, the writer (page 515) has confounded lord Bridport's action off L'Orient, with lord

Howe's battle in the preceding year; and indeed has made a mistake in almost every page; which, we shall take this opportunity of assuring our readers, is the case throughout the whole volume, so little is the information to be depended upon, though so pompously promised to be given with unbiassed accuracy, in this burlesque upon biography. We shall however content ourselves with referring to a few more instances of its incorrectness; and not quote the whole book, which we might safely do, to justify our decided reprobation of so impudent an imposture.

Misrepresentation the fifth :

In 'Dr. Jackson's life the world is, for the first time, informed that he is a great mathematician. The doctor, who is a modest man, will, we are confident, be as much astonished at this piece of news as his fellow collegians:

• Miraturque novas frondes, et non sua poma.'

We are told also (what will greatly offend the doctor) that, ' under his auspices, his college has produced mathematicians, who may, at this moment, stand in competition with the best mathematicians of the sister university.'

This is disgusting; for, however equal may be our respect for the general learning of Oxford and Cambridge, the infant of Dr. Jackson,' mewling and puking in its nurse's arms,' must not, cannot, be compared with that giant who pursues his philosophic lucubrations

• Where willowy Camus lingers with delight.'.

We have done for ever done we hope-with the authors of Public Characters' annually however if they appear, if neither neglect can wither, nor just censure shame them, annually shall we print (as we doubt not there will be occasion) a list of their misrepresentations. Indeed we might say to them, as Gibbon did to Mr. Davies, there is a monosyllable most applicable to many of your assertions ;'--but as such inuendoes even are too indelicate for these gentle times, we shall only compliment our authors upon their powers of invention, so strikingly displayed in the above, concerning Dr. Jackson, and his mathematical elèves, as a good finale to such a chorus of falsehoods as we have set in full' before our readers.

We now come to-Ignorant Mutilations.

The first:

In Mr. Grey's life there is no mention of his having been educated either at Eton or Trinity college, Cambridge.

1

The second:

The writer of Mr. Tierney's life does not know that he was a student of Peterhouse, Cambridge.

The third:

In lord Lauderdale's life nothing is said of his fracas with the duke of Richmond, or of his rencontre with general Arnold.

These gentlemen must not pretend to publish the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and at the same time leave out material circumstances that tend to the developement of character, from a fear of offending or from ignorance. The certainty indeed that the former of these obstacles will always operate against any impartial account of living persons, and the more than probability that the latter will always preclude any accurate or full information concerning the private actions of our cotemporaries, and, as it is seen in the book before us, even the public ones; these, are two strong arguments against the encouragement of every work of this nature. Nor must we be told by these writers, that some of the above omissions relate to things too immaterial to be recorded in their important pages. They who have kindly made the world acquainted with Dr. Jackson's usual residence in the long vacation; they who have introduced us into major Topham's privacy; they who have obtruded Mr. Kett upon the public, nolentem nolentibus, himself unwitting, upon us unwilling; they, with an ill-grace, would shelter any omission under the plea of any insignificancy.

We shall conclude by noticing, separately, a species of error (page 413) which we cannot place under either of the above heads-Ignorance without doubt occasioned it; but then it is not a mutilation, nor was it meant for an untruth.

In the duchess of Devonshire's life, the writer speaks of the celebrated battles of Hockstet and Blenheim; not knowing, it is plain, that the battles (as he pluralizes and misnames them) of Hockstet and Blenheim were one and, the same battle. This is a most curious specimen of modern historical information.

In fine, we avow it to be our wish, that the publication of the lives of those, of whom, for the most part, it is immaterial whether the biography be posthumous, or co-existent, or non-existent, should be discontinued. However, as this is hopeless, we shall leave the book with all its fulsome nonsense, to load the shelves of those (being on most occasions a large majority' *) who for several years past have been in the habit of purchasing it, and of whom we shall merely observe that they and their money are soon

* Gibbon.